ELIZABETH — Having stepped down in October as executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Christopher Ward has been hired by a Spanish construction firm that hopes to partner with Ward’s old agency on a new Goethals Bridge.

Ward started on Wednesday as executive vice president for major projects for Dragados USA, a Manhattan-based subsidiary of Madrid-based Dragados, an international construction and infrastructure firm.

Ward said Dragados plans to bid on a Port Authority project to replace the aging and congested Goethals Bridge, which links Elizabeth and Staten Island. The Port Authority has yet to issue a request for proposals on the billion dollar-plus construction job, but officials envision it as the agency’s first public-private partnership on that scale.

Ward said he would abstain from participation in the bidding process for the Goethals Bridge project.

Ward joined the Port Authority in 2008, and was credited with leading the accelerated completion of the World Trade Center Memorial Plaza in time for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York named Patrick Foye to replace him.

Ward said Dragados would bid on the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement, a huge project in New York State.

"There’s about $30 billion in public construction projects that are going to be out for bid, and we’re going to be in competition for those," he said.